Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Pray for Haleigh

Here we go again, only this time the killer of the female in a "persistent vegetative state" has actually been charged with a crime, unlike Michael Schiavo, who quite literally got away with murder. Seems that beating the tar out of someone can indeed leave the victim in a "persistent vegetative state," even though Michael Schiavo managed to conceal the ultimately fatal beatings he administered to his wife Terri Schindler. The idiot in the story below wasn't quite as lucky as our old pal Schiavo, though. Strickland, the man in question, beat his 11-year-old adopted daughter Haleigh into a coma, and is now trying to get the state of Massachusetts to keep her on life support in order to avoid being charged with her murder.

He should have taken Haleigh to Florida before he tried to kill her. He'd probably have gotten a parade, although Florida would yank the life support, which is, ironically, the very thing Strickland doesn't want to happen.

I am posting this nearly in its entirety, and the whole gruesome and heartbreaking story can be read at this CBS link.

(CBS/AP) Lawyers for the stepfather of an 11-year-old girl tried to convince Massachusetts' highest court on Tuesday that he should have a say on whether his stepdaughter is removed from life support. If the girl dies, he could face a murder charge for allegedly taking part in the beating that left her comatose. Jason Strickland is asking the Supreme Judicial Court to overturn a juvenile court judge's decision allowing the state to remove Haleigh Poutre from her ventilator and feeding tube. Haleigh Poutre was hospitalized in September after her stepfather and adoptive mother kicked her and beat her nearly to death with a baseball bat. Within two weeks of being charged with assault and battery, the adoptive mother, who was also Haleigh's aunt, was found dead alongside her grandmother in a possible murder-suicide.Strickland is free on bail while awaiting trial on assault charges. CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reports that the girl's biological mother, Allison Avrett, gave up her parental rights years ago and now she has no say in what happens to Halleigh – but she wants life support to be removed. "I want her to rest," Avrett told Alfonsi. "Being kept alive like that, it's not a life." The state Department of Social Services has custody of the girl and wants to remove her from life support, citing opinions from her doctors that the girl is in a permanent vegetative state. Strickland appealed, and could face a murder charge if she dies. Strickland's lawyer argued that he should be designated as the girl's de facto parent because he lived with her for four years. But that argument didn't fly with Chief Justice Margaret Marshall. "That's not going to cut it," she said. Marshall said de facto parenthood is typically reserved for someone being prevented from having a relationship with a child by the child's biological parent. ther justices expressed concern that Strickland is charged with abusing Haleigh. "Who would we put in here? Mr. Strickland, who is charged with injuring the child?" said Justice John Greaney. Strickland's lawyers say that while the state has pushed for removal of Haleigh's life support, no one has argued that the girl should live. CBS News Strange Twist In Right-To-Die Case December 6, 2005 21:30:07